Would 12-0 Boise go to the BCS title game over a 12-1 SEC champ?
I had Jerry Palm of collegebcs.com on my radio show Monday. I believe that Jerry and Brad Edwards of ESPN.com are the best two numbers crunchers out there when it comes to the BCS.
The first BCS Standings will be released on Sunday and if everybody at the top of the polls wins, Jerry says he believes the first set of standings will look something like this:
1. Boise State
2. Oregon
3. TCU
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
It will be fun having Boise State at No. 1 for the entertainment value alone. But Palm pointed out that if the big boys keep winning, Boise State will not stay there.
“You have to understand that the bigger conferences are just now getting into the meat of their schedules,” he said. “Their schedules will get better as the season goes on but Boise’s is only going to get worse.”
I wondered aloud yesterday if Alabama’s loss to South Carolina would cost the SEC a chance at a fifth straight national championship. I still believe that if an SEC team (Auburn or LSU) goes undefeated, the voters in the polls will move them into the top two in the final BCS standings on Dec. 5. I could be wrong about that but I don’t see a repeat of Auburn in 2004 given the success the SEC has had.
But here is the most intriguing question on the eve of the first BCS standings: My CBS buddy Tim Brando says he believes that when the season is over there will be no undefeated teams in the Big Six conferences. I think there will be at least one.
But what if an undefeated Ohio State, undefeated Oregon, or undefeated Big 12 champ (Oklahoma or Nebraska) finishes No.1 and the only other undefeated team is Boise State? Then, what if Alabama runs the table and avenges its only loss by beating South Carolina in the SEC championship game?
For that matter what if the SEC champion, whoever it is, finishes 12-1 and Boise State is 12-0? Who would/should the voters put in the No. 2 spot? Would they give the SEC champion the benefit of the doubt because it has won four straight national championships? Or would the voters decide they wanted to see somebody else in the BCS championship game? Would the voters decide that they wanted to give one of the little guys a chance?
Palm believes that because of the hit Boise will take in the computer polls, the Broncos actually need to finish No. 1 in the human polls to have a shot at in the final top two.
Tell me how you would vote and why.
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360 comments Add your comment
bart
October 12th, 2010
6:21 am
Whoa..my very first FIRST!!!!
Ormewood
October 12th, 2010
6:44 am
Boise is going to need all of the big boys to lose to even have a chance to get one of the two slots. I know I’m in the minority here, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it. Don’t think it’ll happen though.
Dooley the Vol
October 12th, 2010
6:44 am
BSU is a cute story, now it’s time to step aside and let the big boys play.
Bare Bryant
October 12th, 2010
6:44 am
Tony, it’s ok not to have Alabummer in the top 10 every now and then. Don’t have a cow, my man. really. The Church of Nick Satan was ripened for picking. and got just that last sat. Oh, yeah, Mike Price said, “Roll Baby Roll”.
TonyBFan
October 12th, 2010
6:50 am
Congratulations “bart”.
Now let the men talk. An undefeated Boise should be in the nat champ game…. as long as they are only one of two undefeated teams left. We’re talking about a one loss team, Alabama, still in the hunt. Whoa. How about a one loss South Carolina team? I watched that game Saturday and I think it’s a fair assessment to say they whipped the Tide, on both sides of the ball. I don’t know about Ohio State or the Big 12 guys, but usually a disappiontment when they get to the national championship game. Texas excluded. Personally, I’d rather see Boise versus Auburn than Ohio State and Oregon.
collegeballfan
October 12th, 2010
6:54 am
I would love to see Boise in the big game. But it will not happen.
SEC
October 12th, 2010
7:04 am
Dear AJC ( excluding TB ),
There are 11 other teams in the SEC. Do not call your website UGA and SEC when you have not posted one article about another SEC team other than Georgia since Saturday. At least TB, given the homer that he is, writes about the world outside of GA.
matt
October 12th, 2010
7:06 am
There is your problem. Whenever it is up to “Would the voters decide they wanted to see someone else in the National Title game?” I have never really had issues with the BCS before, but that statement really stood our to me. It should never be about who we would like to see in the NCG it should be the two best teams. Flawed system?…
m
October 12th, 2010
7:09 am
The BCS is the absolute dumbest system ever developed by man. Idiots like Tony think their opinion is more important than what happens on the field.
We need a 16 team playoff. Then we will have a true champion .
matt
October 12th, 2010
7:10 am
At this point m, I think you may be right.
Mark in Woodstock
October 12th, 2010
7:12 am
m…..completely agree.
Resign or Resign?
October 12th, 2010
7:13 am
If Auburn goes undefeated, they would have beaten both ‘Bama & SC. I’d like to see them or LSU in the NC game vs. BS; win like 66-0; and put all this to rest.
MURPHY
October 12th, 2010
7:13 am
One team not in to many peoples discussions this week is Nebraska. This team is real good. They will take Texas to the wood shed this weekend. You will see Nebraska as an undeafeated Big 12 Champion. I would like of course to see the SEC in the Bcs Game but if not Oregon and Nebraska would be very entertaining.
matt
October 12th, 2010
7:14 am
I might even be happy with 8 teams. If your entire body of work does not put you in the top 8 or maybe even 4, do you really deserve a shot at the national title? If you had to finish in the top 4 would that really diminish the regular season like everyone is afraid? I don’t think so. And, if it were only 4 teams, that would only be one extra week of games. Not a bad idea…
Resign or Resign?
October 12th, 2010
7:16 am
Once again; a play-off has proven to be just as flawed as the BCS in determining “The Best Team in College Football”. Just look at the NCAA baseball and basketball play-offs for proof. Or even the Super Bowl where a 4-loss NYG team beat the undefeated Patriots.
Reality
October 12th, 2010
7:23 am
Fellas, I agree that a playoff is optimal and the right thing to do……but I sure do enjoy the weekly debate about which team is best and I enjoy a season were every game counts.
Munson's Toupee
October 12th, 2010
7:25 am
Hey Tony, last time I checked, 12 and 0 was better than 11 and 1….even outside the SEC
GTJeff
October 12th, 2010
7:26 am
Alabama only fell to #8. They could very likely knock off Auburn & LSU, two top 10 teams & would probably dominate either Florida or Zaxby U in the SEC championship. That would put them back at the #2 spot after December 4th.
SC Boy
October 12th, 2010
7:27 am
What about a 11-1 South Carolina team that beats Auburn in the SECC? It could happen and I think the voters would be intrigued by the team Spurrier has built around the best WR in college. And before you idiot Dawg fans say it won’t happen, I’ll remind you of your predictions on the USC/UGA game and the USC/Bama game.
Highlander
October 12th, 2010
7:27 am
Would Boise St. go to the BCS title game over a one loss SEC team? Absolutely hands down no question whatsoever!!! I can’t believe some even would try and question it. It’s bizarre to me to tell you the truth. Its like some don’t think they are actually playing divsion I college football. Well maybe you ought to watch them and yes, they in fact are playing division I college football. They have DB’s who run 4.3 40’s and offensive lineman who can bench press double door refrigerators just like everywhere else, as do the teams they play. But the teams they play don’t even have anything to do with it. Boise St. is the best team in the U.S.A., right now, based on who they are- not their opponents! The S.E.C. is, top to bottom, the strongest conference in the land, in most years if not all. I see that. As a conference it is very impressive! But that, traditional strength of schedule in other words, logically has nothing to do with who is the best team in the country. Nothing, as in zero. As in 0.00! If it did somebody like Vanderbilt or Mississippi St. would deserve to go to the title game. And they don’t. The 2 best teams in the country deserve to play in that game. By best teams I am referring to the 2 teams who tackle the best, hit the hardest, are the best coached, execute the best, and move around the fastest, and in the absence of a playoff system after watching all the teams play, albeit only on T.V., one of those 2 teams is Boise St. Boise St. will be in the BCS national championship game come January and those of you are going to be confused about will have just have to remain confused about it. Sorry. Me, I am going to sit back and appreciate a great team of Idaho potato farmers mixed with California JC transfers take down closest thing we have to a National Championship.
JB
October 12th, 2010
7:27 am
Lot’s of sad faces all over Bama this week……. The chance for a repeat for Bama was left in Columbia. There well may be 3, maybe 4 teams ahead of them in the polls at years end, with Bama probably being the best team. Ohio St. looks good, but they would struggle against Bama with Bama having a month to prepare…… Bama, IMO, would beat Boise……Saban knows it’s being undefeated….and politics…….He’ll have to be happy being SEC champ, which is not much of a prize to those folks…..
JB
October 12th, 2010
7:29 am
S C Boy…..get in line….it’ll be Ohio St & Boise……..Hope you guys win the SEC title though…..From a Dawg fan……..
ATL is TigerTown
October 12th, 2010
7:38 am
If UAT wins the SEC championship, trust me, those fans will continue to act like they invented football.
LLoyd Christmas
October 12th, 2010
7:39 am
I still think Alabama has the best team out there. South Carolina was perfectly prepared and Garcia was confident and flawless. If they played 10 straight weeks in a row, I think Bama would be 10-0. Ohio State looks better this year than in years past. I just don’t think Boise State can come to the Big 10 or SEC and win. Oregon can play.
JB
October 12th, 2010
7:41 am
I’ll be more than a tad surprised if AU and LSU don’t each lose two games. Kudos for winning close games but that won’t keep happening especially with their schedule. AL will actually probably move right back up into the mix, that said. For that matter, don’t OU and NE play each other?
HBTD!!!
Mike
October 12th, 2010
7:45 am
Nebraska is not going to lose. If Boise runs the table and VT and Oregon St win at least 9 games, they will play for the title. Sorry SEC, not this year.
Old Gold
October 12th, 2010
7:45 am
A National Champ should be undefeated! All those one loss Championship title teams including Florida and Tech are tarnished! They may have won a championship but it’s not the same as being undefeated no matter who you play!!
A Differnet Jim
October 12th, 2010
7:51 am
Yes Boise will be in the BCS game because the ohio state univ needs some team it can beat. What the ohio state univ is forgeting is how embarrassing it will be it they lose to Boise. They would be better off losing to Oregon.
Gen Neyland
October 12th, 2010
7:53 am
After the November landslide in both Houses of Congress, the last bit of business will be to envoke the Fairness Doctrine as it relates to the BCS. (Really, that’s a joke. Right..?) It could happen that Boise ST gets a nod but I’d expect the SOS to knock them out of it, be it a one loss SEC team or other major conference. Albeit, whoever draws Boise in the Bowl season will possibly be getting the short straw.
You Ain't-Know Gaily Whacker
October 12th, 2010
7:56 am
The Reporter: Mr McGarity, are you really changing the Georgia fight song ?
Greg: No, just adding this video to replace Damon’s message.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPXnoLAEUSQ
GeezusDawg
October 12th, 2010
7:57 am
I hope not.
BAMA dude
October 12th, 2010
7:57 am
At this point I don’t think Bama is worth debating in the top spot. Nick Saban said yesterday, “We’re not the best team in the country … this team hasn’t proved sh*t”. I personally think that there will be two major conference champions stay undefeated. Don’t know which two, but the schedules for Nebraska, Oregon, and tOSU are all pretty soft from here on, and only NU has to play a Conference CG (which is just WRONG). Plus, what do you do with Michigan State? Since they don’t play tOSU they have a good chance to stay undefeated. They really do need a playoff. Make it six BCS conference champions and four at large bids. Seed the four at large teams and make them “play in” for week one, giving the conference champs a bye. Then you have an eight team playoff seeded by rankings, with the conference champs getting the top six spots no matter what. With something on the line I’d bet a Boise would never make it out of the play-in round. Bowl games currently don’t mean much except for the BCSCG; I think this has as much to do with OU and Bama losing to BSU and Utah as anything. Only one set of players really wanted to be there in those games.
ga gator
October 12th, 2010
7:59 am
My ultimate goal has always been to have a tournament with 8 teams incorporated somehow into the bowls. My thoughts based on everything that I have read is that the main obstacle has been the Pac10 and Big 10 teams stopping it. Both feel like the voters will vote them high enough to get into the tournament if they send an undefeated team. I would love it (although they dont deserve it) if Boise were to get one of the 2 slots this year. If Auburn should run the table and get in, then once again the Big 10 would be shut out and then the Big 10 presidents would finally yield to pressure and agree to some sort of playoff.
Dawg_Mike
October 12th, 2010
7:59 am
Who will beat Oregon?
It’s a given that Boise will run the table.
How entertaining would this matchup be?
BAMA dude
October 12th, 2010
8:00 am
Old Gold, I assume you’re a Tech fan. You should know, then, that Tech was undefeated in ‘90. They had a tie to a godawful UNC team.
JB
October 12th, 2010
8:03 am
Really sad…..read some Knoxville paper this AM about the fallout of UT and Dooley getting creamed by a 1-4 Georgia team……Some fans up there have not come to grips of where they are…..Dooley played 15 freshman for Pete’s sake and the supporting cast is marginal at best…….I hate to say it, but he’ll work his butt off, have 2-3 decent recruiting classes, get them to the point of being respectable, and be shown the door…..The next guy comes in, finds it a hell of of a lot better than Dooley did, and have some success……You can see it coming 3 years away……Sad………….but, he’ll leave wealthier…..
3rdn8
October 12th, 2010
8:06 am
JB
I’m afraid you may be right about Dooley. Not sure the UT people will be patient. I didn’t get to see the UGA-UT game, and apparently UGA whipped them all over the field. In the othere games I have seen, I thought the Vols played well….considering all of the issues.
I still don’t undeerstand how that AD has a job. Hiring Lane Kiffin should be grounds for immediate dismissal.
R
October 12th, 2010
8:07 am
When Boise State plays a real schedule, then they can be in the discussion. Until then, they can enjoy their potatoes and blue field and get off my sports page!
JB
October 12th, 2010
8:10 am
There is a mess coming at years end….Yes, I think the powers to be ( I don’t know who they are) would LOVE to have OHIO ST. as National champs…..You just get the feeling listening to the slobbering for them on TV every Saturday……Lot’s of folks outside of the South would love nothing more than have a non SEC team for a change, IMO……
SimpleDawg
October 12th, 2010
8:11 am
The Alabama / South Carolina game is a prime example of why Boise State is left out when the big boys line up for the National Championship.
Bama’s 3rd ranked opponent in a row beat them.
How many of us really think Boise State would go undefeated, or even have only 1 or 2 losses playing in the SEC or Big 10 + 2…..or even in the ACC or the PAC-10?
I don’t think they would.
3rdn8
October 12th, 2010
8:12 am
I can’t understand the arguments in behalf of the current bowl system. There will most likely be a 5-7 team in a bowl this year. There are now so many of them that they’ve virtually become meaningless.
How could an eight team playoff damage the bowls? Or a sixteen team playoff for that matter.
3rdn8
October 12th, 2010
8:14 am
JB
have to agree with you again. I think the country is a little tired of the SEC…SEC…stuff.
I’m a little tired of it myself. Still hope that Bama worms their way into the show somehow.
JB
October 12th, 2010
8:16 am
Boise will be SERVED UP to Ohio St…….It’s almost like prearranged marriages in the old country…LOL
MURPHY
October 12th, 2010
8:18 am
3rdn8,
Eight team playoff wouldnt damage the bowls,it would damage the pocket of some of these presidents and schools. If you could take the greed of money out of the situation we would have a playoff system.
Tyler
October 12th, 2010
8:18 am
If Oregon and Ohio St both lose or Neb and one of the two, then yes a sec would move up. But not if two are undefeated. You see tony the sec is NOT a juggernaut this year. It’s not even the best conference. The pac 10 is. And when aub ark alab and lsu all beat each other, you won’t have any undefeated teams so it won’t matter. Oregon will win it all. Didn’t you see the ducks crush the orange? Who in the sec is doing that besides 2-4 ga? LOL
rusty
October 12th, 2010
8:19 am
I am a 4 team or plus one type of playoff guy. The reason being is that it doesn’t cheapen the regular season in any way. Although the 5th or 6th team would be bitching they didn’t get in, how often would you not have the “true” number one team in the top 4–very rarely. I really have enjoyed the bigger bowl games in the past, but now it seems unless you are in the championship game you don’t really matter.
3rdn8
October 12th, 2010
8:20 am
The “Powers that be” is the media. Remember a few years back. All they talked about was the big showdown between OSU and Michigan. Let’s face it. There are a lot more people in the midwest, and west coast, than there are in the southeast. More people means more bucks, which drives the whole carnival.
Of course LSU or AU could run the table. That would be problematic for everyone except Tim Brando.
Gen Neyland
October 12th, 2010
8:20 am
JB : Those fans are the minority, or are fans that don’t have a clue about the game and it’s inner workings. No sense about the variables. Everywhere you go, it’s the same. I saw it here on these hallowed pages with UGA at 1-4, too…Shoot, one might even see it in Cookeville with Tennessee Tech or Clarksville with Austin Peay. I tend to ignore the blatant ignorant on the UT sites. Trolls are another matter…They’re just pot stirrers that whiz themselves because they can’t discuss or don’t understand the game. Only ridicule. That makes them an even lower life form than the uninformed fan…
3rdn8
October 12th, 2010
8:22 am
MURPHY
I’ve heard that argument before. My point is: there are 35 (I think) bowls. If an eight team playoff used seven of those bowls as a venue, then that would still leave 28 bowls for pocket lining.
richham
October 12th, 2010
8:23 am
I would love to see that happen. Boise gets clobbered and the ratings drop into the toilet. I don’t like the bowl system in place. Nobody watches any of the bowls outside of new years eve and new years day.
This is the world we live in today, where everyone is a winner. Instead of teaching our young men and women about overcoming obstacles and achieving your goals through hard work, we teach them that you automatically deserve it. It’s the welfare state in college football and in government schools in general.